Connect Databricks Tables to Power BI

Publish Azure Databricks Tables to a Power BI Dataset

Azure
Databricks
Power BI
Report
Data Source
Author

Phuong Nguyen

Published

January 3, 2025

Hi there,

Follow these instructions, you can use Azure Databricks as a data resource to create Power BI dataset from tables or schemas directly from the Databricks UI.

Prerequisites

  • Your data must reside in the Unity Catalog within your Databricks workspace.
  • Your compute (cluster) must be Unity Catalog-enabled.

Step-by-Step Guide

### Open your table

Step 1. In your Databricks workspace, click on Catalog in the left sidebar to open Catalog Explorer.

Step 2. Select the schema or table wish to publish.

Step 3. Choose a compute resource from the drop-down list “Attach to an existing compute resource”. Click Start and Close. Once your compute resource (e.g, Serverless) has started , verifying the table content by clicking on the Overview, Sample Data, … tabs.

Step 4. In the left side bar, click on Parter Connect dialog, then Select Microsoft Power BI.

Step 5. In the Compute box: - Choose your compute resource. - Click Download connection file. - Open the downloaded .pbids file in Power BI Desktop.

Deal with Azure Databricks credentials – Generate Access token

Step 6. When Power BI Desktop starts, a prompt will request your Azure Databricks credentials. For the credential Method, select Personal Access Token (PAT). This token grants Power BI access to the semantic model.

Step 7. Back to the Databricks UI to get a PAT.

  • Click on “personal access token”, a window of Access tokens opens.
  • Click on Generate new token.
  • Add a comment (e.g., “access databricks”)
  • Set the token lifetime. (default is 90 days).
  • Click Generate and copy the token immediately once created.

Connect with Power BI Desktop

Step 8. In Power BI Desktop, enter your credentials:

  • Personal Access Token: Paste the copied Azure Databricks token.
  • Click Connect. A Power BI Navigator will open.

Step 9. Select the desired Azure Databricks data to query from the Power BI Navigator.

Click Load to import the dataset into Power BI.

Result

Congratulations! You have successfully loaded a dataset in Power BI from Azure Databricks Catalog. Now, you can create interactive reports and dashboards using Power BI’s visualization tools.

For a hands-on practice, watch my step-by-step tutorial video demonstrating the above process:

I hope this was helpful !

References:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databricks/partners/bi/power-bi#additional-resources